Rohani Orders Acceleration Of Iran's Program To Develop Missiles

December 31, 2015

Iranian President Hassan Rohani has ordered his defense minister to accelerate the country's missile program in response to U.S. plans to impose sanctions for Tehran's testing of a ballistic missile in October.

'As the U.S. government is clearly still pursuing its hostile policies and illegal meddling...the armed forces need to quickly and with more seriousness pursue their missile capability,' Rohani wrote to Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, the state news agency IRNA reported.

U.S. President Barack Obama's administration is preparing new sanctions against international companies and individuals because of an October 10 test of a medium-range Emad rocket.

United Nations sanctions monitors said on December 15 that the Emad is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, making it a violation of a UN Security Council resolution.

The Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported on December 30 that the U.S. sanctions would target about a dozen companies and individuals in Iran, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates for their role in helping Iran develop ballistic missiles.

Based on reporting by Reuters and IRNA

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/rohani-orders-acceleration- of-iran-program-to-develop-missiles/27460884.html

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